Improved washing-machine



UNITED STATES PATENT irren. Y

JOHN MCLAUGHLIN, OF MONONGAHVELA CITY, PENNSYLVANIA.

IMPROVED WASHING-MACHINE.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 43.122, dated June 1'4, 1864.

To al@ whom, t may concern.;

Be it known that 1, J oHN MCLAUGHLIN, of

Monongahela City, in the county of Washingwith relation to the rubbing-follower and its action that the operator can by it turn or reverse the clothes and bring all parts'of them in contact with the rubbing-surface of said rubbing-v follower; and, also, in constructing the bottom of the machine so as to make it watertight, the whole being constructed, arranged, and operating in the manner hereinafter described.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will proceed to describe its construction and operation.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a perspective view of the machine. Fig. 2 is a sectional view. Fig. 3 is a side view, and represents the rubbing-follower drawn back for the purpose of converting the body of the machine into an ordinary wash'tub furnished with a wash-board.

In the accompanying drawings, c represents the body ofthe machine.

b represents the legs, which are furnished with staybars q.

C represents thc rubbing-follower, which cJnsists of two end pieces, 7, and tluted crossbars r, arranged so as to form a segment of a circle, the outer surface of which presents a corrugated face. To rubbing-follower C are attached two levers, d, on the ends of which is placed the handle m. The rubbing-follower, with its .levers and handle, is hung on pivots c of yoke A, which consist-s of two bars, f, and two crossbars, 'i and t. The back end ofthe yoke A `is held in position to the body of the machine by two pivots, g, and its front end is kept from dropping too low by the ends of the crossbar t, which pass through the bars f and drop into notches 6, made in the sides of the body of the machine. It will be observed that the yoke A will be raised np in proportion to the quantity of clothes placed in the machine; and it will also be observed that by means of this yoke the desired pressure and friction can be brought down on the clothes with the rubbing-follower bythe hands ofthe operator, thereby avoiding the use of springs and other uncertain devices used for that purpose.

The bottom of the machine forms in part a segment of a circle, with a portion ofthe bottom at each end of the machine diverging otf from the circle, for the purpose of allowing the free action of the rubbing-follower, and to en able it to turn or reverse the clothes. I wish it to be clearly understood that it is necessary to the perfect working of the machine to make each end of the bottom to diverge from a circle, otherwise the clothes cannot be turned or reversed by the action of the rubbingtollower C; but by thus diverging the bottom of the body a from a circle, and by making the rubbin g-surface ofthe rubbing-follower C to form a segment of a true circle, and by hanging it in the manner described and represented, the operator is enabled to turn and reverse the clothes in the machine by the motion of the rubbing-follower C, and bring all parts of the clothes in contact with its rubbing-surface. On the front end of the bottom of the machine is placed a piece of Zinc, corrugated, which .forms an ordinary washboard. The circling part of thebottom consists of corrugated strips of hard wood (marked 3) and plain strips ot' soft wood, (marked l.) Thehard and soft stri ps ot` wood are used in alternation with each other for the purpose of making the bottom. watertight. The soft wood being more susceptible to the action of the water, andswelling more than hard wood, thus causes the bottom to be perfectly water-tight. These strips of soft and `hard wood are held in position by means of bands of iron, (marked 4,) which are held to their place by means of screws (marked 5.)

a and t are the back stays of the pivots e and g.

y is a plug used for holding' thc water in and for drawing the water off from the body ofthe machine.

The wringing arrangement consists in the use of a hook, j, crank x, cam o, pawl n, and pin t.

h represents the stay or support of the pin t. 7. represents a shelf forsoap and clothes.

vquantity of water.

The operation of my improvement is as follows z The rubbing-follower is drawn back, as represented in Fig. 3, and the clothes are soaped and prepared in the usual manner, and placed in the machine with a suitable The rubbing-follower is then placed in the position represented in Fig. 2. The operator then takes hold of the handle m and works it backward and forward, which will impart to the rubbingfollower an oscillating motion. The desired pressure and iriction are brought on the clothes by the operator bearing down on the handle fm. After the clothes have been washed a sufficient length of time by the rubbing follower, it is then drawn back and any part of the clothessuch as the wristbands and collars of shirtsmay be rubbed out on the zinc wash-board l, if they should need it.

v The wringing of the 'clothes is accomplished as follows The piece to be wrungoutisplaced over the hook j and against one side ot' the pin t. The ends of the piece are held in the left hand, and the crank :v is turned with the right hand, which will impart a revolving motion to the hook j, which will twist and wring the piece perfectly.

The pawl n and cam o are used for the purpose of preventing any back-action of the hook in Wrin ging.

Having thus described the nature, construction, and operation of myimprovements, what I claim as ot' my invention is The manner of constructing and arranging the bottom of the body a with relation to the rubbing-follower C, that the operator is enabled by it to turn or reverse the clothes and bring all parts of them in contact with the rubbing-surface of said rubbing follower, the whole being constructed, arranged, and

operating in the manner herein described and set forth.

JOHN MCLAUGHLIN. Witnesses:

JAMEs J. JoHNsToN, ALEXANDER HAYs. 

